This invention relates to power transmissions having input clutches, and more particularly, to such transmissions and clutches having dual mass flywheels.
Dual mass flywheels are used in conjunction with manual transmissions to reduce gear rattle and torsional vibrations, without significantly reducing the shiftability of the transmission. This is usually accomplished by adding a flywheel and a spring damper on the input side or engine side of the input clutch. With the additional flywheel disposed in this location, the engine speed changes during upshifting and downshifting are affected by the increased inertia load. However, the additional flywheel mass does reduce gear rattle during neutral. Connecting the secondary flywheel to the output side of the manual clutch results in increased inertia loading on the transmission synchronizer during ratio interchanges. The last mentioned location has not been desirable, because it requires an increased torque capacity requirement for the synchronizer assemblies disposed in the transmission. This, of course, requires increasing the size and/or complexity of the synchronizer assembly.